Getting Home
by Raven Morning
Summary: A young woman named Shane is unceremoniously dumped across the country via a power she didn't even know she had. And the bad news? She used to live in New York, but now she's in Jump City home of Titans Tower! R&R please! Edited to make it easier to read.
1. Chapter 1

** Hey all, this is my first Teen Titans fic I've ever put on here, so any pointers or critiques would be great. R&R please! Thanks!**

You would think that nothing wrong was happening because of the silence that had swept over the back streets of the sleeping city. But the silence didn't signify peace; the silence was tense and the air was thick with the fear of death and pain. Fear that several people felt as they hid, waiting for the perfect time to reveal themselves and attack. One of those people was Shane, who was crouching in a dirty alley way between two rundown brick apartments. She knelt behind a trash can, not daring to peek around it to see what was on the other side. She had no idea what she had gotten herself into, and at the moment she didn't care. All she knew was she would die if she didn't get out of there.

A crash and a yell was heard in the distance; someone must have been discovered, because shortly after Shane heard three gun shots. The sound of the shots faded away into an even deeper silence as everyone contemplated who it was that just died, and if they were on their side or the opposing side. She clenched her eyes shut, swallowing hard and gripping the handle of her knife before jumping out and running into the main back alley. Her appearance was met with the cocking of a gun. Her head whipped over to the right. A man a little older then herself was holding his gun at arms length, a black handkerchief covering the majority of his face. Sweat rolled off his forehead and his hand was shaking. He didn't want to be here, and he was scared, just as much as Shane was. But when his eyes darted over her face, he knew she was not on his gang, so he had no choice but to shoot.

She ducked and rolled out of the way before throwing out her knife. It dug itself into his knee with a sickening sound. He crumpled with a yell, unable to stand. She ran up to him and kicked the gun from his hand and grabbed the knife from his leg in one fluid motion. She dove into another alleyway, tears starting to roll down her face. She shouldn't be there. This wasn't her battle. She was just trying to survive.

_She was strolling down the street to get home, hand on the hilt of the knife that she always carried in her pocket. You couldn't be too careful where she lived. Suddenly, a scream of pain broke through the air. Shane froze, tentative. It hadn't come from far off._ Maybe I should help..._ The scream lead her towards an abandoned building. Stupid, she knew, but she wanted to see who it was that screamed and if they were okay. She approached the front side of the building and went to a window. She wiped the grime off of the surface with her hand and peered into the window- it was clear that no one had occupied this place for a long time. An old piano stood untouched in the corner, a sofa in the center with tattered cushions, old portraits on the wall, wooden floors laden with inch thick dust. No one was there.  
_

_ She turned to leave when a bullet richoted off the wall and shattered the window. She jumped, and her instincts took over. __**Hide**__. She obeyed them and ran behind the building, shoes crunching the broken glass at her feet. Staying low to the ground, she rounded the corner and nearly screamed. A person lay on the ground in the alleyway, blood pooling at their side. Shane covered her mouth in horror, mind racing. She fell back, sitting on the ground, trembling with fear. Bracing herself, Shane leaned forward to inspect the body. Their right arm bent in an awkward fashion, and a bruise graced __their forehead. Their shirt was bloodstained and torn, exposing a knife wound on their stomach. She grimaced, looking away. She directed her vision to their face. It was a teenage boy, not older then sixteen. He had beautiful blue eyes, and she imagined that they would shine with life and excitement whenever he opened them. But now they were cold, distant- dead. This was the boy she heard scream. Tears threatened to overcome her as she stroked the boy's hair. _

_"Hey, there's another!" Her head shot up as she heard a voice, probably calling to his friends. "Must be one of them!" She blinked, clearing her blurred vision of tears, and saw a figure emerging from the shadows. Shane noticed a gleam of metal at his right hand. She glanced down and saw he was clenching a blood drenched knife. _Th-They killed this boy?No...god no..._  
_

_ Shane didn't want to leave the boy laying there, but she had no choice as he drew a gun and walked towards her. She leapt up and ran as fast as she could, the sound of gunfire in her ears. Bullets missed her by barely inches. She ducked around a corner and hoped to god he wouldn't come after her. His angry voice rang out, cursing at her and demanding that she come out and face him. In the middle of his tirade of threats, a gunshot interrupted him. She heard him stagger and watched as he stumbled back, holding onto the wall in an attempt to keep standing, then fell, suddenly motionless. Three more men ran in, shocked and furious when they saw the body of their friend on the ground. They rounded on his killer. Shouts and yells accompanied the sound of gunfire and bodies hitting the cold concrete. Shane couldn't take it. She leaned over and emptied her stomach on the ground next to her. As she wiped her mouth, she realized. She was caught in this, and there was no way out._

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The second she came into the second alleyway she felt the cold press of metal against the back of her head. Fear took over, making her numb. In an attempt to free herself, she jabbed her knife blindly at the attacker, who grabbed her hand and twisted it painfully, causing her to drop the weapon. She turned and lashed out with a fist. They dodged it nimbly and kicked her. She collapsed and felt a searing pain in her side. "Goodbye." She closed her eyes, begging, pleading, willing herself to somehow get out of there, to somehow live. She blacked out, hearing the echoes of the gun fade away in he mind, leaving her to black nothingness.

--------

The first thing Shane realized as she slowly came back to consciousness was that she felt like she was floating, weightless. The second thing she realized was that she was underwater, hence the reason she couldn't breath. She opened her eyes and looked up, seeing a blue sky shining through the water. She raised her arms to swim up, but felt a sharp slicing pain immediately after doing so. Her arms shot back down to her sides and let out a moan of pain. Knowing that she was losing precious oxygen, she switched to kicking her feet. She slowly ascended and broke the surface, gasping for air. She turned around, looking for where she was. _I'm in a pool? _After further investigation, she cried aloud,

"I'm on a roof?!" The cement top she was on was roughly twenty yards long and half as wide on either side of her. It was completely clear of any structure save for two poles for a volleyball net and a stair well leading down to whatever building this roof belonged to. All that she could see beyond one side of the roof was a horizon of endless ocean. On the other side was a glimpse of a city. She gazed at the city, trying to remember if any of it looked familiar to her.

A movement in the corner of Shane's eye caught her attention. Her eyes darted over to find that movement came from a girl. A pale girl with big amythist eyes and even darker purple hair. Adorning the middle of her forehead was a red gem. A dark flowing cloak connected by a brooch hid most of her body. But what was most interesting about the girl was her voice, which when she spoke was deadpan.

"Yes, you are. My and my friends roof, to be exact." Her eyes narrowed as she brought both arms out of the cloak and held them in front of her, in what Shane took as a defensive stance. "Why are you here?"

"I-" She paused; A sudden sour and sickly sweet smell filled her nose. She looked down and saw blood seeping slowly out of her side and spreading through the water in a thick red cloud.

"You're bleeding..." The girl said, lowering her guard. Shane gave a small noise, halfway between a laugh and a grunt before the world before her started spinning. She put a hand to her head, trying to steady her gaze but failing. _Not again. _Blackness once again took her.


	2. I'm Where?

**This is the second chap. of Getting Home. Thanks to everyone that's reading this! Any critiques or tips you could give me would be great. R&R please!**

Consciousness came suddenly rushing back to Shane in a painful blur. Her head was swimming, she was naseous, and she felt woozy. All in all, Shane felt like crap. She opened her eyes, slowly adjusting to the light. A white ceiling stared back down at her; she was no longer outside. Instead, she was somewhere in a dim room that smelled like bleach and stale air. She could feel a bed beneath her, and their sheets crinkled with every small movement. Gathering what little strength she had at the moment she attempted to sit up, but couldn't. Lifting her head, she looked down and saw three thick restraint belts strapped over her chest, her thighs, and her feet. Confused, she struggled against them, calling out for help.

"Help! Someone, please help! I'm- I'm trapped! Somebody!" Her voice was hoarse from hours of no use, so she coughed and tried again. "Help!" Footsteps came softly at first, but grew louder as they drew closer. Shane brightened- somebody had heard!

She listened carefully, brow furrowed. There wasn't only one pair; several others were joining it. They stopped outside the door, and a voice murmured something inaudible before opening the door. Light from the outside hallway poured through the opening, casting the person into a black silhouette. She squirmed once more against the restraints as they walked closer.

His features came into view. A black haired, well built but short teenage boy, wearing a small mask to conceal his eyes had his mouth set in a grim line. He looked at her, half glaring, half accusing her as he came to a stop beside her bed.

"What in the gods names is going on?" She asked, grunting as she attempted to sit up once more. Her stomach churned in resistance.

"Just lay down, okay?" He more demanded her then asked.

"Why the hell should I listen to you? You're probably the one who tied me here, huh?" He winced at her language- it must have been something he wasn't accustomed to hearing. She smirked inwardly at his discomfort.

"Yeah, I am, and I can leave you here alot longer if you don't shut up and stay still." Sighing, Shane gave up, laying still.

"Who are you? I think I at least deserve your name."

"My name is Robin."

"So Robin, just tell me," she pleaded, "what is it that you want? If you're going to kill me, just do it."

"Kill you?" A suprised expression flitted across his face before he regained his mask of seriousness. "We're not going to hurt you at all, much less kill you."

"Well then, why am I tied up here? No, on second thought, where _is _here?" She shifted turning her head to gather the rest of her surroundings. It was a dull white room, just like one you'd find in a doctor's office. "Are we still in the west side of Kane City?"

"Wait a minute. Kane city?" Robin raised an eyebrow. "In New York?"

"Well, duh." Shane frowned, looking back at him. "Why?"

"Well, this isn't New York... This is Jump City, California."

"WHAT?!" Shane shouted. "California?! Holy mother of-!"

She began to struggle frantically against her restraints. "Let me out of here! Why the hell would you bring me across the country?! What are you, some sick twisted kidnapping freak?!" Robin tried to calm her down, tell her that everything was okay, but failed miserably. If anything, she was struggling harder. He ran a hand down his face, sighing in exasperation. Turning around, he signaled someone at the door to enter. The door slid open and slammed shut. Shane lifted her head, looking to spit at who ever approached her. She couldn't believe a gang would go so far to ship her across the country just for revenge. Pissed was an understatement. "You sick-"

"Hey!" A sharp, loud voice interrupter her. "Mind shuttin' up for a minute so we can explain things to you? Or are you going to sit there and yell all day?" She glared one more at the approaching figure as it spoke, but said no more.

"We aren't kidnapping you. In case you forgot, you were the one who came here." Shane raised an eyebrow, confused. Suddenly, the memory came rushing back to her. The first time she blacked out she woke up in a pool, which she was guessing belonged to the ones who were holding her. And that dark haired girl... But how she got there was still foggy.

"Right...but I don't know how I got here. Last thing I remember before coming here was being in New York...all those people..." She shuddered as an image of the dead boy raced across her mind.

"What? What people?" Robin asked.

"Nothing, nothing...I'm guessing you had absolutely no part in getting me here, right?" Shane asked, trying to conspicuously figure out if they were involved in the gang somehow. She prayed that Robin was dumber then he looked and wouldn't catch on.

"Yeah, pretty much." The silhouette figure walked up beside Robin, casting himself into the dim fluorescent light. She gasped, forcing herself upright again despite the bile rising in her throat. She had never seen anyone like him. A robot- no, a cyborg? The circuitry that took place of his shoulders, forearms, and half of the back of his skull seemed to emit a blue glow. Metal comprised the rest of his body, save for a little more then half of his face. He grimaced at her response to his appearance. "Something wrong?" he growled. She hesitated before shaking her head. As she tried to lay back down, a sharp pain tore through her side. She cried out in pain, fingers grabbing at the wounded flesh.

"That pain? That would be you ripping out your stitches. Way to go." The cyborg turned and fished out a needle, some thread, a bottle of alcohol, a syringe, and gauze from a drawer in a counter across the room. "There was more then one reason for holding you down like that." He moved to the side of her bed and undid the restraints. "Now do yourself a favor and don't run. You'll only bleed out halfway down the hall." She nodded, having already considered fleeing but decided against it. Bleeding all over the floor would be unnecassary, not to mention painful. He turned her over on her unwounded side so that she was facing him. She winced slightly, but was otherwise suprised by the gentle touch the cyborg had. He ripped open the side of the shirt and jabbed her with the syringe.

"Makes it so you won't feel anything." he explained when she threw him a questioning look. He dipped the needle in the alcohol and tied the string to it before he pierced her skin. As he promised, she didn't feel a thing. Instead, the drugs made her a bit drowsy. She stared at the man before her with half lidded eyes. His eyes, one a startling dark, misty blue, the other red and robotic, focused in concentration. Robin must have gone to talk to those outside the room, because she couldn't see his masked glare anywhere, and the room was eerily quiet, save for the occasional mechanical whir from cyborg's body.

"You okay?" he asked, glancing up.

"Hm? Oh, yeah...A bit suprised you're talking to me after the look I gave you...About that, I-I didn't mean to-" He smiled a little, continuing his work.

"It wasn't as bad as some reactions I've gotten over the years." She frowned, and wondered how long he's been like that.

"Still...What's your name?" He looked up again.

"Cyborg." She raised an eyebrow.

"Seriously?"

"No."

"Then why-" "It's what my friends call me. Like Robin's name isn't really Robin."

"Oh...So what is your real name?" This time it was his turn to raise an eyebrow.

"If I could tell you my real name, do you think I would be walking around being called Cyborg? No. There's a reason we have these names." He snipped the thread and put gauze over her new stitches.

"'We?' You mean there are more people here like you and Robin?" He left the room, leaving her sentence hanging.


	3. Meeting the Rest of Us

**This one is a little short, but hopefully it's enough for now. Thanks for all the reviews, and keep them coming! Any critiques are welcome. Read and review please!**

Hunger rumbled through Shane's stomach for the tenth time in the hour or so that she had been concious. She grimaced, trying to hush her stomach's protest to it's starvation. Starvation might be too severe of a word- maybe fasting would be more appropriate. She glanced around, wanting to make another attempt at freedom, but not wanting to go through the painful ordeal of ripping out her stitches again. She lay there, wondering if it would be worth it to get out and find something to eat, maybe leave this place and catch a ride to the nearest highway so she could hitchhike her way home. 

Ever since her strange encounter with Robin and Cyborg, she had been left alone in this hospital-esque room, still restrained to the bed. It seemed that in his hurry to leave, Cyborg remembered to keep her strapped to her bed, but forgot to ask if she was hungry or needed anything. Now, she was alone and hungry in a cold, dim room with no way to get home. Yeah, this pretty much took the cake for crappy days in Shane's life. What really troubled her was why they still saw fit to restrain her. Was she that much of a threat to them? She knew she wasn't that dangerous. In the alley she had been on survival mode; she was running on pure adrenaline and instincts to just stay alive. But outside that alley, she was about as dangerous as bubblewrap.

Maybe they thought she was there to rob them. But who would break into a building through a pool on a roof? She entertained herself with these thoughts for the next few minutes. She became so involved in them that she did not hear the only door in the large room open and the sound of metal clanking on the floor. The next thing she knew a shadow passed over her and large hands were unfastening the restraints on the bed. She blinked and looked up.

"Oh. Hey Cyborg. What're you doing?" He started at her feet with the third belt, undid the thick strap of leather, and moved to the second one.

"Getting you off of this bed. Hold still." She stopped wiggling her feet although she desperately needed to get the blood recirculating again.

"Yeah, but why?"

"We have to show you some things." She was chilled by his tone and the grim expression she saw on his face as he undid the last belt. He must have noticed her sudden silence because he looked down at her and smiled.

"Aw, don't worry about it. It's nothing big." He helped Shane ease herself up and steadied her when she wobbled with the first few steps.

"Thanks. I think I got it." She smoothed down her jeans and ran a hand through her short, emo-ish hair before nodding to Cyborg. He opened the door and light streamed in from the hall. Smirking, Shane said, "Shall we?"

The first thing Shane noticed as she walked through the door to the main room was the somber mood Robin was in. He sat on a half crescent sofa, arms crossed, brow creased in deep thought. He propped his feet up on the small table in front of him and was tapping his foot impatiently on the other. One other person sat beside him, but all Shane could see of her was her bright red hair. She looked as though she was trying to comfort Robin. A flat screen tv was mounted on the wall across from him, and it seemed to double as a computer or some type of mainframe because of the keyboard control panel placed underneath it. The tv showed nothing but flickering static at the moment.

Another person stood by the 'wall' window, looking outside to the water below. Shane recognized her from her dark clothing as the girl she had seen earlier by the pool. Her arms were crossed, a book held tightly to her chest. Her lips moved silently, as if she were chanting something.

"Yo Rob, I got your girl." Cyborg edged Shane forward a bit, towards the sofa. Robin sat up, sweeping his legs off the table and standing up in one quick motion. The girl on the sofa zoomed up and spun around, eagerness accentuating her pretty face. She smiled excitedly.

"Hello new friend!" she cried. Shane raised an eyebrow, wondering if this girl had eaten way too much sugar, or if this was just the way she was all the time. "You are the one who arrived on our roof, are you not?"

"Unintentionally, but yeah, that's me. Who are you?" _And what is she on?!_

"Her name is Starfire." A level, cool voice said. The dark girl was standing a little behind Robin, her cloak hood pulled up to cast a shadow over her face.

"And what's your name? I remember seeing you, but I never caught your name."

"That's because I never gave it to you." she replied coolly.

"Come on Raven, lighten up, she's new!" A kitten emerged from behind the sofa and meowed at the dark girl, presumably named Raven, before cocking it's head at Shane. She eyed it, interested not by it's incredible cuteness, but by the fact that it was bright green. Suddenly, the kitten changed; claws became fingers, the tail disappeared, fur became flesh. Now crouched before Shane was not a kitten, but a boy.

She screamed, stumbling backwards and falling on her backside. Eyes wide, she pointed at the confused looking green boy. "What the hell?! H-How did he do that?!"

"Do what? Transform?" She nodded, feeling herself trembling a bit. She'd never seen anything like that in her life. Shane didn't even think it was possible- but here was a boy changing from a cat back to a human like it was normal.

"BB's a shapeshifter." Cyborg explained in a casual tone. "He can only shift into animals though."

"'Only?'" The boy scoffed. "I could beat your cybernetic ass any day." Shane glanced from Cyborg to the boy the back to Cyborg. They acted as if this was all commonplace, as if everyone walked around with shapeshifting abilities.

"Bring it on green boy!" Cyborg replied, grinning as he towered over the boy.

"Hey!" shouted Shane. The two froze, looking over. "Could someone please tell me what the hell's going on?"


	4. Explaining

**Thank you for the kind reviews! I don't like this one very much, but I hope the next one is better. I'm also hoping to develop more on Shane and her personality in the next few chapters. As always, any critiques would be greatly appreciated. Read and review please! ****  
**

Shane drew her knees to her chest and contemplated the five people in front of her. In the last five minutes she's been told the most unbelievable things that she's ever heard in her life. Things she never thought possible, logical, or even fathomable. And what really terrified her, more then shapeshifters or cyborgs, was that she actually believed them. But then again, had they given her reason not to? 

"So, Starfire is an alien-"

"Alien princess." Beastboy corrected.

"Right, alien princess, from the planet Tamaran?" Starfire nodded. "And Raven is an outer-dimensional telekinetic witch from a place called Azarath?"

"Yeah, pretty much." Cyborg said. Shane stared at them, unblinking for a few moments.

"And I- I'm supposed to believe this crazy shit you're telling me?" Robin cleared his throat, standing up. Shane looked at him.

"Well, yes. Not only because it's true, but because it also applies to you." She shot him a confused look.

"I'm an alien princess with telekinetic powers?" she asked, half-joking. He sighed, running a hand through his short black hair.

"No. What I meant...well, just look for yourself." He walked from his spot on the sofa to the tv mounted on the wall in front of them. He hit a few keys on the control panel beneath it, and the static on the screen changed to a bright blue screen with the word 'play' blinking in the top left corner. The screen then cut to a view of the roof. Shane saw Raven meditating beside the pool, hovering inches above the ground. "This is a security tape taken from this morning, roughly around five." Robin said, stepping back from the screen to stand beside Shane.

"That was around the time you showed up. We figured we'd check the tape to see exactly when you came, and how you got here." Cyborg explained. "That's when we saw this." He gestured towards the screen and Shane fixed her eyes upon it. In the middle of the pool, underwater, a flickering ball of light was forming. It was faint at first, barely noticeable. But seconds passed, and it began growing in both size and strength. The light was no longer feebly shining; it was almost blinding in it's brightness. In the very core of the ball lay a dark figure. It's legs were drawn up tight to it's chest, and it's arms wrapped securely around them. It almost seemed to be sleeping. Slowly the light faded, leaving the figure floating underwater, motionless. Shane didn't need to see what that figure was; she already knew. But she couldn't stop watching.

Fascination and horror combined within her as she watched it jerk to life, thrashing around for just a second before it looked about itself wildly. It finally emerged to the surface, and it's features became clear. It was a girl, in her mid to late teens. Her sopping wet black hair was matted to her head, no longer in it's usually messy style. Her eyes, a dark brown that almost looked black. Her mouth, set in a tight line of confusion and fear. Her button nose, speckled with just a few faint freckles that also splattered her cheeks. This girl- this pathetic looking, drenched and scared for her life girl- was Shane.

-------

The tape froze just as blood began to pour from her side, and the screen once more cut to static. Robin turned off the tv and turned to look at Shane. All the others did the same. She tore her eyes from the screen and blinked slowly, trying to gather her thoughts. Her mind was so lost at that moment that all she could do was walk stiffly back to the sofa and sit down. Cyborg was the only one to move to comfort her.

"Shane?" Hearing her name seemed to jerk her out of her revere. She looked up at Cyborg, who sat down beside her and put a comforting arm around her. " Shane?"

"I-I'm scared." she whispered, clasping her hands together tightly. "I'm lost, and I'm scared..." Her voice hitched as she broke off her sentence. Suddenly, she threw her arms around Cyborg, burying her face in his metal chest. Suprised, Cyborg hesitated, but returned the gesture, enveloping her in his arms.

---------

"You seem to have some rough, undeveloped for of transportation powers. Have you ever had any hint of this before?" Shane shook her head, staring at the ground as Robin talked to her.

"Something has to have triggered the sudden outburst of your power." Shane cringed as Robin said the word 'power'. She was in no way used to, or comfortable, with the idea of possessing something beyond the norm.

"Maybe it was her emotions that triggered them." Cyborg suggested. "They seem to do that with Raven."

"She is nothing like me Cyborg." Raven said. He shrugged.

"Just saying."

"Cyborg could be right." Robin agreed. "What were the last emotions you felt before coming here?" Shane could almost feel the cold press of a gun at the back of her skull that she felt in the alley, and the cut at her side tingled as she remembered her attacker cutting her with her own knife.

"Fear, anger..."

"From what?" Images of the bodies she'd seen ran through her mind, chilling her. She froze. There is no way she could tell them, no way that they would understand. They would arrest her before she could even tell the whole story. No, she would have to lie for now.

"I-I don't remember."

"Anything?" he pressed. She shook her head. Sighing, Robin said,

"Okay, we'll try to figure this out later. For now, why don't you get some rest?"

"You'll have to sleep back in the med room until we get something better for you."

"No, it's fine Cyborg. Thanks." She stood up and walked to the door before muttering, "But I don't even think I'll be here that long."


	5. Revealing Her Weakness

**Hey, sorry for the wait, but it took a while for this to come out. I know the fic is starting off slow, but next one we'll finally get to see Shane experiment with her power. As always, thank you so much for the kind reviews, and keep them coming! Any critiques are more then welcome! **

She walked down the dark hall, going by memory to get back to the med room where a bed awaited her. It wasn't the bed Shane was most eager to sleep in, but it offered sleep, and that was something she desperately needed. Even though she must have been awake for just a few hours, it felt like days since she was embraced by the darkness of slumber. There, at least, she could forget about everything, leave this world behind and find a calm place to rest her mind. 

When she crawled into bed and slipped under the covers, having removed her jeans, she dropped off into sleep almost immediately.

_--------- _

_  
Bodies..._

_Screams.._

_Pain..._

_Gunshots..._

_The poor little boy that lay before her, death stealing him way before his time...the sticky blood that coated his torn stomach... his eyes...his beautiful blue eyes that would never see again, that could never take in the world like they were meant to...eyes that suddenly began to disappear, leaving bloody gaping holes that stared at her, leered at her...flesh that rotted from bones, partially devoured, marring the face of the youth she held in her arms...motionless limbs that came to life, grabbing at her, ripping at her hair, fighting her until she dropped him in fear and scrambled back...a sickly cracking of bones as the boy who reeked of decomposing flesh stood, pointing a rotting finger at her...the wet, slopping sound his feet made as he slowly approached her...a jawless mouth that screamed in endless pain, a scream that reverberated in her ears and rattled her skull painfully...a scream that suddenly turned into a haunted whisper...__Shane...Shane...Shane!..._

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"Shane!" Her eyes shot open, half expecting to find the mutilated boy leaning over her. But who she saw was far from that. "Shane, are you okay?"

"Cyborg!" He was such a welcome sight after her dream that she had an impulse to hug him again. She pushed the impulse away and sat up. She was soaked in cold sweat. "Um, sure, I'm fine."

"You don't look fine. You look half dead!"

"And you care?" she asked defensively.

"Well, you are in _our _home, and you _are_ our guest, so yes, we care." She shifted, looking around Cyborg to see Robin standing behind him, arms crossed. Starfire floated just inside the doorway, and Raven and Beastboy were right outside the room, peering in. Running a hand through her sticky hair, Shane sighed.

"Sorry...I guess I'm still a little freaked about earlier today."

"You mean yesterday." Cyborg corrected.

"Huh?"

"It's morning. You slept the whole rest of the day yesterday."

"Oh..." _That long?! It couldn't have been, it felt like no time at all... _She wiped her palms on her shirt and grabbed her jeans from the floor by her bed. _"_You have a shower I could use?" Robin nodded.

"Beastboy will show you." Beastboy transformed into a bird and flew down the hallway, pausing to see if she would follow.

"Thanks." she muttered, tugging on the pants and trailing after him.

-------

Listening in on people's conversations wasn't something Shane normally did. But when she was walking back from the bathroom after she took her shower, she passed a partially opened door and heard a piece of a conversation.

"-ungrateful and rude! Do you expect us to actually help her? We can't just take in anyone with powers." Shane soon discovered the conversation was being held between Robin and Raven. She pressed her back against the wall and continued to listen.

"She's just scared. And I admit, she can be rude, but we can give her a chance." Robin replied.

"Give her a chance?" she asked in a cold tone. "That's exactly what we did with Terra. And look what happened." Robin fell silent. "All I am saying is that we cannot put too much trust in the girl. For everyone's sake..." A long moment of silence passed; there was a rustle of cloth and the shadow of Raven approached the door. Shane turned and hurried down the hall, anger and confusion bubbling up inside her.

-------

"Yo, Shane, I got breakfast if you want some." Mumbling something that sounded like a no, she continued on through the doors and shuffled past the kitchen. Even though hunger had torn at her stomach earlier, she no longer desired any food. Her dream seemed to have ruined her enormous appetite.

Cyborg shrugged, putting the bagel he offered her back on a plate. "Whatever." He eyed her new change of clothes, which consisted of faded, low cut jeans and a black tank top with a little red heart sewn onto the left breast. "Where did you get those?"

"Starfire." she answered. "She said she understood my predicament- having no clothes and all- so she said I could borrow hers if I wanted to. Tried to say no, but hey," she shrugged and offered a small smile. "she can be persistent." Cyborg chuckled. Silence fell between them for a moment.

"So...You sure you don't want anything?" he offered again. "You haven't eaten anything since you got here." She eyed the bagel on the counter, and her stomach growled loudly. "Guess that's your answer." he said as she turned a slight shade of red.

-------

Shane brooded, staring out the massive wall window. She found out that if you angle yourself enough, you can overlook the water and catch a glimpse of the city. Beams of late morning sunlight glinted off the windows of all the buildings and made cars gleam on their way to their many destinations. Life teemed throughout the sparkling city- everyone had something to do, somewhere to go. She studied it for a while. It was nothing like New York, nothing like the city she'd grown so accustomed to seeing. One she might not ever see again.

"How much do you think it costs to get a plane back to New York?" she asked suddenly.

"Huh?" Cyborg looked up from the tv. He and Shane were the only ones in the room at the moment. The others still hadn't made themselves known yet. "Why would you want to know-?" Realization dawned on his face. "Oh."

"Yeah, 'oh'." She turned to face him. "How much do you think it is?" He turned off the tv and sat on the edge of the sofa, staring at her with a perplexed look.

"You're just going to run from it? You're not going to try and figure it out?" She rolled her eyes and snorted coldly.

"I'd love to stay and play superhero with my new freak 'power', but I can't."

"They're not a freak power. It's a gift."

"So I can return it then?" she asked sarcastically, facing the window again. She heard him stand and walk up behind her, and could almost feel the warmth from his body.

"What are you afraid of?" he asked softly.

"Afraid? I'm not afraid of anything! I just want to get home!"

"Because if you're home, you don't have to deal with any of this." She whirled around, anger contorting her face.

"Don't you play psycho analysist with me Cyborg!" she yelled, pointing a finger in his face. Slowly, he raised a hand and pushed her arm down.

"I'm not. I'm not trying to do anything. I just want to know why you want to run from this before it's even started." He searched her eyes, as if they'd hold the answer he wanted. She dropped her head, avoiding his gaze. It was like he understood what she felt, what she was going through. He got under her skin so easily it almost scared her. Yet, he was the only one to try and make friends with her so far. He wanted to help. And she trusted him...

Unable to speak, she merely looked up at him and hoped he understood. She was more or less grateful that she could not find the words to say, because saying it would make it concrete, real, true- and she didn't want it to be. The truth was that Cyborg was right. She was scared.


	6. Trying

**This is the longest ch. so far! As promised, you saw Shane work with her powers a bit. Next one we'll have her using them even more though. Thanks for the reviews and kind words. Read and review please!**

She could only stare at the empath as she calmly stirred her tea and made her way to the sofa to sit beside Shane- the very one whom Raven had insulted and been mistrusting of. How could she sit so passively? How could she hide her mistrust so well? How could she not say what she thought to Shane's face? Shane was far from forgetting what she had overheard. Raven would not be so easily forgiven.

Robin finally spoke.

"We're going to work on developing and exploring your powers." Shane froze, raising an eyebrow.

"Woah, wait a minute. I didn't even say if I was staying or not." She shot Cyborg a look. _Did you lie to them and tell them I wanted to stay? I never said I was going to!_ He shrugged, shaking his head. He seemed as suprised as everyone else was.

"I don't think you have much choice in the matter." Robin replied. "You're wounded, and you have no way to get home. You have to stay here."

"Dude! That's awesome!" Beastboy exclaimed, throwing his fist up. Starfire clapped excitedly.

"Wonderful!"

"Robin..." Raven muttered, shooting him a dark look. "Remember what I said."

"Shane should stay. I think, for her safety, we shoul'd test the extent and control of her power."

"Oh yeah," Shane laughed. "because transporting is _so_ dangerous!" Robin's face became serious.

"It _is_. What if, Shane, you needed to escape, so you transported yourself. But instead of ending up somewhere safe, you screw up, and you transport yourself into the inside of a wall." Her smile died on her lips.

"...She would be crushed..." Cyborg said.

"Dude..." Beastboy said dejectedly. Robin continued.

"You don't understand what you might be capable of. As of right now, neither do we. But we need to find out. For everyone's sake." Shane shot a glance at Raven before looking at Robin.

"So you're going to trust me? You don't even know me." She could hear a small intake of breath from Raven. Her lips curved into a slight smirk. _Good. She should be scared. She should know that I know..._

"What reason do we have to not trust you?" Starfire jumped from her seat beside Robin and hung midair in front of Shane.

"Welcome to the tower, new friend!" She offered her arms out for a hug, and Shane accepted. As she was crushed and the stitches at her side felt like they were ready to pop, Shane could feel Raven glowering at her from under her hood.

-------

"Robin said as soon as we're done replacing the gauze, we need to meet him outside to get started with training." Shane nodded, sitting up on the medical bay bed and lifting up the right side of her shirt to expose the stitched wound. Cyborg crouched down so that he was level with her wounded side and peeled off the gauze. He was going to put the new gazue on, but hesitated and looked up at her. "Robin told us not to bother you for a few days with any questions, but I have to know...How did you get that cut?" She stiffened, dropping her shirt back down. _I have to lie..._

"I told you," she fumbled. "I-I don't remember anything." He rose an eyebrow. He clearly didn't believe her. She put a hand on his shoulder and tried to smile convincingly. "But I'll tell you once I do. I promise." Cyborg studied her for a moment before going back to the gauze. Her fake smile faltered. She hated lying to him. And after what he'd done for her... But what else could she do? Trying to keep her mind off the guilt, she started a conversation.

"I know you can't tell me your real name, but how about other things about you?"

"Shoot."

"Where are you from?"

"I've lived here, in Jump City, all my life."

"That must be nice, to be so familiar with a place for such a long time."

"You haven't lived in-" He paused. "Um, where'd you say you were from again?"

"Kane city."

"-right- Kane city all your life?"

"No. I used to live in New York City for a little while when I was a kid." She shuddered with the memory. "I hated it there. There were rats and bugs everywhere. And our apartment...ugh." She could've sworn the apartment was uninhabited for years. The wallpaper was old, yellowed, and brittle- some of it was even torn. Black stains seeped down the walls from the ceiling in some places, and the floor would creak awfully. The doors were barely on their hinges, and seemed way too small for the doorways. The few windows they had were nailed shut and had smears of paints on the panes. It was no place for a child to grow up.

"Sounds nice." Cyborg joked. She laughed.

"Yeah, if your homeless." He finished taping the gauze and sat next to her on the bed.

"How old were you when you moved to Kane City?"

"Eight. Old enough to appreciate my new house and how not dirty it was."

"How old are you now?"

"Seventeen. And aren't I supposed to be asking the questions here?" She nudged him, cracking a smile. "How old are you?"

"I'm seventeen too."

"And the rest of the group?"

"Raven's just a few months younger then me. Robin and Starfire are both sixteen." He leaned closer, as if telling a secret, and whispered, "If you ask me, Robins got a thing for Star." She rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, even I could tell that."

"BB's the youngest. Just a month away from turning sixteen."

"I can tell you two are pretty close."

"Yeah, BB's my best friend, you know? The little guy can be pretty annoying, but we're just not a family without him. What about you're family?"

A sudden pang struck her heart. Her family... she hadn't thought of them the whole time she had been there. She closed her eyes, feeling selfish and ashamed. "Shane? Is something wrong? Don't worry, we'll call your family and tell them what's happened. They'll understand."

"No, no, you don't need to call them. It's just I can't believe I haven't thought of them. I feel terrible."

"They're your family! We need to call them."

"You don't understand. I don't live with them any more." Cyborg froze.

"Wait, what? You can't live alone, you're still a minor-"

"Do you think they cared when they threw me out? I'm not living alone, anyway. I'm sharing an apartment with an older friend of mine. I help pay rent with some of my paycheck from work in return for me living there."

"I don't get it. Your own parents kicked you out? Why?" She took a deep breath, almost regretting what she was about to say.

"A year ago, I was dating this older guy. He was so cool at the time, and I was so happy to be with him. But my parents weren't as thrilled. They warned me to be careful. What did I care though? I was just a stupid punk who didn't give a shit." Her throat tightened, her eyes started to burn; tears were threatening to come. "He got me to start drinking. Sometimes, he would sneak into my room with beer and we'd get drunk. One night he came over and we drank together. My parents came in and saw me passed out on the floor. He was long gone." Tears started to make wet tracks down her cheeks as she remembered the hopelessness and betrayal she felt that night.

"They told me that I was a fool. And I was. He could've done anything to me while i was drunk, and I wouldn't remember a thing. He could've- could've-" She broke off, gripping the sheets on the bed in her clenched fist. Her eyes narrowed. "They kicked me out as soon as the hangover wore off. The bastard never came to apologize or help. He broke up with me over a message on my cell." She let out a cold, broken laugh. "The coward couldn't even be enough of a man to do it to my face. You know the hardest thing though?"

She looked at him, her eyes glazed with tears that flowed freely. He said nothing, but stared at her with his deep, dark eyes. They showed no anger or disappointment, only sadness and concern, and traces of something entirely unreadable. "Leaving my little sister. She's five years old. The sweetest little thing you'll ever see in this world. I couldn't bring myself to explain to her why she would see big sister only a few times a month instead of every day." She paused. His continual silence terrified her. To her, it could mean anything; he could be shocked, he could think she was a whore, he could hate her.

"Please don't think anything less of me for this Cyborg." she cried. "All of this was just a mistake that I tried to forget-" He suprised her by covering her hand with his and giving it a supportive squeeze that touched her heart.

"No one can be perfect." he finally said. "We all have our flaws." She opened her mouth to say something, but closed it and settled for threading her fingers in between his and smiling.

The door slid open, revealing Robin, arms crossed and looked annoyed. The two slid their hands apart quickly and blushed a sudden red.

"Cyborg, what're you doing? I said to come outside right after you're done, not sit there and talk! Now come on!" Robin exclaimed, eyebrows furrowed in anger. Cyborg muttered an apology. Shane hastily wiped her tears- Robin didn't seem to notice- and slid off the bed, walking in step with Cyborg out the door.

-------

"Oh my god." Shane stepped outside, shading her eyes from the bright sun, and stood gaping at the massive building she had been in for the past two days. It wasn't the size that impressed her though. It was the shape. "It's a giant...T..." Cyborg grinned, arms crossed against his chest proudly.

"Yep. Me and my dad built it a few years back. Most technologically advanced building in Jump City, thank you very much." he said with a mock bow. She glanced back at him.

"But, why a T?"

"That part we didn't tell you." Robin said. He motioned for her to follow him further outside. They were heading for the side of the tower. "We all met under...strange...circumstances. It started when Starfire came to Earth and started throwing cars around for no apparent reason. Cyborg, Raven, Beastboy and I managed to convince her that we didn't want to hurt her. She told us she was going to be sold into slavery to a powerful alien lord, and that she just escaped from those her where transporting her. But they weren't very happy about losing her, so they came to Earth and threatened to destroy Jump City."

"Sounds crazy, huh?" Cyborg asked, smiling. She shrugged, shoving her hands into her pockets.

"After the stuff I've heard in the past day, I'll believe anything." she mused. " So, what did you do?"

"We stopped them. All of us, five people working as a team. We realized that with all our different abilities, we made up a pretty good team."

"We found this hunk of land just off the bay," Cyborg said, kicking the ground with the toe of his mechanical boot. "and we decided to build the tower on it."

"Why build a tower?"

"All of us...we don't have much in the way of families. Starfire's family is all the way in space, Beastboy's parents are dead, and so are Robins." Robin looked at the ground, faced turned away so no one would see the pained expression he wore. "Ravens home has been destroyed and her father is from hell. And my dad..." Cyborg frowned, and said, "we don't get along too well anymore."

"I'm so sorry..." Shane said, trying to find some words to express her sympathy for them.

"We all needed a home, and the tower gave us one. We stopped the occasional bank robbery, caught a few thugs, the kind of stuff that gets you recognized. Pretty soon, the city figured we were worth having around. So we decided that's what we would keep doing- fighting crime and keeping people safe. We eventually figured that we should have a name for the people and the press to call us by. It took us a while, but we finally decided on one- the Teen Titans." They stopped at the corner of the tower and Cyborg motioned her to go ahead.

-------

What lay on the east side of the small island was the most impressive field course she'd ever seen. From start to finish was the most challenging obstacles a person could have. An open pit ten feet in length, three dropping weights that greatly resembled guillotines, and stationary laser guns. All of it was controlled by a control panel a few feet behind the starting line. A display ran across the front of the control table. Right now it showed a timer running 

At the time, Raven and Starfire were running the course together. To say they were doing a great job would be an understatement. Starfire held up the dropping weights almost effortlessly while Raven flew through them and decimated the robots with her telekinetic bolts. As they crossed the finish line the countdown froze.

"Two minutes. Not bad." Robin said, walking past where Shane was standing, frozen in her spot.

"Yeah, way to go Rae!" Cyborg yelled, thumping the empath on the back. She regained her balance and gave him a smile that was barely there.

"Am I also deserving of the 'way to go' Cyborg?"

"Of course Star." Shane tuned out the congradulatory cheers and stood off to the side, gazing up at the sky. God, how good it felt to be outside. The sun was so warm against her skin. Her peace was short lived though, because Robin and Starfire came up behind her. Robin clapped a hand on her shoulder.

"Ready?" he asked. She turned slightly to look at him.

"I'm not sure."

"Good. Come on, I'll show you where you'll be practicing." She raised an eyebrow at his retreating form.

"'Good'? How is that good?" Starfire tugged on her hand, prompting her to follow her. "Look, I don't even know how this thing works!" Starfire lead her to the starting line of the obstacle course. Shane pulled her hand from Starfires -which took alot of strength on her part- and backed away, shaking her head.

"No. No, no, no- there is no way I'm doing that!" Shane cried, gesturing wildly to the course.Robin chuckled.

"Relax, you're not going to. We wouldn't have you do that, you'd kill yourself." She frowned slightly. _I'm not that weak!_ He stationed himself behind the control panel and typed in a few keys. With a loud mechanical clunking, the course began to change. Giant metal doors came from either side of the pit and met together in the middle, closing it off. The guillotine style dropping weights lowered down into the earth, and the laser robots shut off. Where there once stood a great obstacle course, there now stood nothing.

--------

Shane sat in the newly made empty space of land, eyes closed. She concentrated her mind on nothing but the thought of transporting. Her goal was to move herself just a few feet away from the spot she sat without physically moving her body. The task was even harder then she thought it would be. Her brow furrowed, and the once comforting warmth of the sun was now a bit of a burden. Nothing was happening.

"Guys, it's not working!" she called.

"Don't talk, just concentrate harder!" Robin yelled from behind the control panel. He and the rest of the group were standing there, monitoring her progress. She growled and focused harder. Her fists clenched and unclenched. Her meditative pose wavered; she bit her lip- her focus was fading. Shouting in frustration, she uncrossed her legs and stood up.

"This isn't working!"

"Unless you sit down and try, of course it won't!" Robin replied. She threw her hands up into the air, sighing exaggeratedly.

"I've been sitting there for twenty minutes while you're all just staring at me! This obviously isn't getting me anywhere!" Cyborg, Starfire, and Beastboy exchanged looks; they seemed to agree. Starfire spoke up.

"Perhaps what controls Shane's powers is not concentration, but emotion, as Cyborg had suggested earlier."

"We don't know that." Robin said. Cyborg shrugged.

"It's worth a try. What were you feeling while you transported?"

"Fear more then anything else."

"So she needs to feel fear for this to work?" Robin asked, skeptical. "How are we going to scare her?" Beastboy grinned.

"I have an idea."

-----

He walked around the podium, the grin still plastered to his face. She watched him, wondering what he had planned. When he was a few feet away from her he stopped, got down on all fours, and before her eyes he transformed into a tiger.

"Beastboy, what're you-" Cyborg hushed Robin with a wave of his hand. He seemed to know what was going on. Slowly, Beastboy padded forward, towards her, eyeing her hungrily. His lips slid back to reveal sharp fangs. A growl came from deep within his chest. She shifted nervously.

"I know you won't do anything Beastboy." she said. He began to circle her, like a predator circles it's prey. "Come on..." Despite how brave she tried to sound, she knew her voice betrayed her. Her natural senses were oozing fear. Beastboy or not, that was still a tiger, and she was scared. With a nasty snarl, the tiger leapt forward, claws extended. She screamed, diving out of the way. He pounced hard on the spot where she just stood. Shaking it off, he growled again, crouching low to the ground. "Stop!" she cried, her heart pounding. He struck again.

This time, she rolled out of the way and began to run. Adrenaline pumped through her blood as he gave chase. The tiger was much faster then she was; he was at her ankles in seconds. Its teeth snapped at the back of her jeans. She pushed herself to run faster. A sheen of sweat began to form on her face. One of his paws drew back and lashed at her calf. She felt it slice her skin, but she didn't feel the pain. Her fear blocked out everything- the outside world didn't even exist at that moment. Shane faltered, nearly tripping over herself. The tiger took advantage of the opportunity, and leapt forward, pushing it's massive paws into her shoulderblades and forcing her down to fall underneath it's weight. She hit the ground hard, sliding a few feet before she stopped.

Groaning, she rolled over on her back. Her eyes shot open as she felt a rush of hot breath on her neck. The tiger stood over her, a paw on either side of her. It's teeth gleamed as it opened its jaws wide. Her instincts told her that if she didn't get out o there, she would die. She closed her eyes and screamed as it's head came down to rip her flesh. **_Go._**Suddenly, she felt nothing. Utter weightlessness. Then it all came back. Her eyes opened and she gasped for air. She was kneeling on the ground, fourty feet from where the green tiger stood. Black spots danced before her eyes and wave after wave of pounding pain hit her head. She steadied herself to keep from falling over. It felt like she had been flipped over and over one too many times, then kicked in the head. Suddenly, her stomach flipped. Standing up on weak legs, she ran and retched into the water. She leaned back on her heels, wiping her mouth. She attempted to stand, but wobbled and nearly fell. Someone ran to her side and caught her. It was Cyborg.

"I got you girl. Easy there."

"...never...again..." she moaned, pointing a finger at Beastboy. He ran a hand through his mussed hair.

"Dude, I'm sorry," he apologized. "I thought it would work."

"It did!" Robin exclaimed. "Shane, you transported!"

"Yeah. Know what I also did? I threw my guts up and almost got mauled by a tiger."

"But now we know where it comes from. All we need to work on it making it easier to do." Shane stood up.

"Not today. Not now. I'm going inside, getting water, and laying down before I get sick again." Robin bgan to protest, but Starfire touched his arm and softly shook her head. She marched past him and into the tower, where she lay on her bed in the dark and stared at the ceiling, sulking.


	7. Apologies and Doubts

**Okay, I lied. Shane isn't using her power in this one, Instead, I thought I'd develop her and Beastboys relationship, as well as hers and Cyborgs. But I absolutely promise -for real this time- that Shane will use her powers next time. I don't particularly like this one. It's not my best, but I tried. Thanks for the kind words! Read and please review! I can't get better if I don't know what you're thinking!**

"Shane? Dude, are you awake?" She stirred, eyes drifting open. "Good, you're up." Groaning, she turned over on her back and attempted to sit up. Shane peered around the room through one eye while she sleepily rubbed the other. Beastboy stood in the doorway, his head poking through the barely opened door. Grunting, she waved him in. He grinned and walked in, closing the door behind him. He glanced at her. "You look...well rested." he said with a smirk and a barely concealed snort of laughter at her disheveled appearance. Truthfully, Shane hadn't even realized she had fell asleep. She must've drifted off after she came in from her little 'training session' outside. She stretched her arms over her head and yawned.

"How long was I out?"

"Just about two hours." He wandered over to the wall nearest her bed and leaned against it, arms crossed. After a few moments she asked,

"So, why're you here?" Beastboy frowned, looked a little hurt. Realizing that she must have sounded rude, Shane quickly added, "Not that I don't want you to be. I was just wondering what brought you around."

"Yeah, about that," He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Raven made me- I mean, I wanted to come apologize for chasing you around earlier. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I never meant to hurt you or scare you that badly. If I had known I wouldn't have-" She waved it off.

"It's okay. It's over with now." She kicked off the sheets and swung her feet over the side of the bed, her feet touching the cold floor. Subconsciously, she ran a finger over the cut Beastboys claw made on her calf. Out of the corner of her eye she saw him wince. He really felt bad about hurting her. "Seriously." she insisted. "If anything, you helped me. Now I know where this transporting stuff comes from."

"You're sure?"

"Definitely." He smiled, visibly relieved. A look struck his face as if he just remembered something. "Oh, and-" He held out his fist and opened it. On his upturned palm there was a small white pill. "Cyborg said to give you this for your head. It's a painkiller." She nodded and took the pill from his hand, murmuring her thanks. Actually, her headache was nearly gone. Sleeping seemed to have helped it; at first it hurt so much that she thought her head would explode, but now only the dull remnants of pain were left. Still, she took the pill to help with the shooting pain going through her side. Her skin felt swollen, putting pressure on the stitches. Reminding herself to tell Cyborg about it later, she put the pill in her mouth, dry swallowing it.

Sighing, she snatched her pants off the floor. Only then did Beastboy realize she wasn't wearing any. He turned his head away, blushing. Shane smiled, amused by his innocence. She tugged the jeans on and ruffled her hair until she achieved the desired effect; messy and, in a strange sort of way, alluring.

"It's okay BB," she laughed. "you can look now." He turned back, cheeks still red.

"Who told you to call me BB?" he asked.

"Oh," she blushed, not even noticing that she had called him that. "I picked it up from Cyborg. I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay. It's just people usually don't call me that when we first meet."

"We didn't just 'first meet' though." Shane pointed out.

"You know what I mean." he said. She was about to reply when a strange, loud growling noise cut through the air, interrupting their joke. It seemed to come from Shane's stomach. Beastboy quirked an eyebrow. She blushed.

"I must be hungry."

"Come on then, we just ordered pizza if you want some." She nodded and hopped off the bed, following him out of the room for the second time that day. "We ordered a veggie pizza, and two 'murder and slaughter poor little innocent animals so we can eat them' meat lover pizzas." Beastboys voice trailed down the hall as they walked, echoing slightly. "Veggie is way better."

----------

She could smell the grease and melted cheese before even entering the room. It was a welcoming and familiar smell. Her diet usually included alot of pizza, hot or cold. It was either that, ramen, or sub sandwiches. Her and her roommates budget didn't allow for much else.

"Wonderful!" Starfire cried, the second she saw Shane. "Our friend has roused herself from the 'lazing around' to come and join us!"

"Actually," Shane admitted. "I fell asleep." Now that she was used to them, Starfires happy outbursts didn't faze her as much as they used to. But she still found herself wondering how on earth -or Tamaran- a person could be so cheerful.

"You needed it after the show you and BB put on." Raven shot Cyborg a look. "What?"

Shane walked over to the sofa and eyed the three pizza boxes stacked on top of eachother on the table. The top boxes lid was flipped open, revealing a half eaten pizza. Beastboy frowned.

"Cyborg! Robin said not to eat until Shane got here!" The cybernetic man shrugged.

"I was hungry."

"Robin isn't eating?" Shane asked, plopping herself down beside Cyborg and grabbing a slice.

"No. He's off following a lead on-" Cyborg paused. The three Titans exchanged looks. Shane raised an eyebrow. "-on some escaped

con."

"Okay, what was all that about?" she asked, gesturing to the three of them with her pizza.

"What?" Cyborg asked, feigning innocence.

"The whole looking at eachother thing!"

"Nothing." Raven said tersely. "Eat." Shanes eyes narrowed. She didn't appreciate being ordered around, or being shut in the dark. They were trying to hide something, and she would make sure to find out what it was.

----------

Waves lapped up against the shore, a continuous and rhythmic motion that lulled the night into a peaceful sense of calm. Only the sound of the water could be heard. The noises of the city were muffled by the enormous silence that blanketed the night. Even the moon and the stars seemed to stand in respect for the quiet. They shone down brightly, casting glimmering glances off the water, making it sparkle in their ghostly light. The tower stood tall, a grand black silhouette against the starlit sky. A small form huddled in its shadow on top of a rock, so small and unimpressive compared to the tower that no one noticed it.

The cool wind that swirled around the shore felt wonderful. She breathed it in deep, and it helped clear her head. The air brought with it the taste of the ocean, bitter and calming all at once. Doubt riddled her mind with thoughts and questions. When she had told Beastboy while they were in the med room that everything was fine, she wasn't being completely true. She harried herself with her worries, fears and self doubts until she no longer felt like she was capable of even attempting to use her power.

_What if I can't get better at this? What if I never do? Should I just give up and leave this place now? Leaving seems so much easier to do then staying here and dealing with all of this..._ Her eyes glided to the horizon. She wondered if she could ever reach the horizon, and what was waiting for her on the other side. It seemed so far away, like so many things were...

"Yeah, I like it here too." Cyborg said. "It's really...peaceful." Shane almost jumped, startled by his sudden presence. "Sometimes I'll come down here to think. Is that what you're doing?" Her gaze settled on the horizon again. A wind blew, misting them with the cool ocean water. She shivered, drawing her knees closer to her chest. "What's on your mind?"

"...Do you really think I'll get the hang of this? Or am I just wasting everyones time?"

"I know you can get control of your power." He placed his hand on her shoulder. "You just need to stay here and try. Give it some time." His voice was soft and comforting and understanding, but none of that helped ease her doubts.

"And if I have to feel pain and fear each time I want to use it?" She lowered her eyes. "Would it even be worth it to go through that?" He joined her on the large rock she was sitting on and waited a few moments before he answered.

"At first, I didn't want this body at all. It was forced on me; I didn't get to choose whether I wanted it or not. I had to become this. It wasn't easy at all. Everything was different; everything was hard. Just moving and getting used to these limbs was a challenge all on it's own. Dealing with what I had become...I still don't think I'm over that yet. But I knew I was stuck with it, so I didn't stop trying." He gazed down at his hands. "You can't stop trying Shane. You can't. If you do, you'll just fade away inside. You won't know what could've happened, who you could've become, what you could have done...You'll regret it. You'll regret everything. You'll wish you would have tried just a little bit more and maybe it would have worked." He looked up at her, his gaze steady, seeming to almost plead with her. "I don't want to see you do that Shane. I don't." She met his eyes. They were sad, filled with hurt and intensity. He was the first to break, looking down at the ground.

And suddenly she understood. He almost gave up. He had felt that pain once, and he knew what it could do to a person. And here he was, reaching out and trying to help her not make the same mistake. He cared enough about her to do that. Shane knew that she would be a fool to turn him down.

"...Would you help me?" At the sound of her voice he looked back up.

"Yes." She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly, smiling gratefully.

"Promise me you won't give up?"

"I promise." she whispered. "Thank you Cyborg. Thank you so much." He hugged her back, his arms wrapping around her waist, drawing her in. She could feel the warmth from his body, and smell the faintest trace of oil and syrup. For a split second she felt her cheeks burn with a blush, but she willed it to go away. What was to be embarrassed about? _Unless..._ She shook her head slightly. No, it couldn't be that. _...Could it?_

**You all knew it was coming! You knew it! Thank you for reading and please review!**_  
_


	8. The Calm Before the Storm

**Okay, we're winding down with the story now, only three or four more chapters to go. Thank you for reviewing to those who did, and for those who did not, I urge you to review! Please, it helps me and this story get better! This one I thought I'd add a bit more of Shanes powers and somethings about Cyborgs background and previous life. I hope it's better then the last one. So, again, read and please review! Thanks!**

"Okay, close your eyes and position your body just as I told you." Shane obeyed, lowering herself onto the ground and crossing her legs, her hands resting palm up on her knees. Her fingers curled, making a loose fist, her middle finger and thumb touching slightly. Raven paced a circle around her, making minor corrections. "Sit straighter." She arched her back, pushing her chest out farther. The rocky ground underneath her wasn't the most comfortable thing to sit on, but Raven insisted that meditation was most effective outside, where a person could be more in tune with the elements. She was also the one to suggest that meditation could be the key to tapping into her powers with out being in extreme situations. Meditation helped control ones emotions; if she had better control she could summon the feeling of fear without being overwhelmed by it. 

"Remember, breath deep and steadily. Relax your muscles." Honestly, Shane had no idea why Raven was helping her. From what she had said earlier, Shane thought the last thing Raven would want to to was help her with her power. Shane had the suspicion that alot of prodding from the other Titans was what drove her to do this. But she would take what ever she could get. "I'm leaving now. Stay here for how ever long it takes." She could hear Ravens cloak rustle as she turned and walked back to the tower, leaving Shane to herself.

Breathing deep, Shane cleared her mind of troublesome thoughts, letting each one slide by until there were none left. She let her mind drifted back over the past few days spent here. Despite everything, staying here was nice. The tower almost felt like a home to her now. Although not all the tenants were kind to her, the rest made her feel welcome there, almost like she belonged. _But I don't. I'm an outsider. I already have a home._ But her home seemed too distant and far off to reach. It was like a foggy memory of a previous life. After all that had happened, home just felt too odd to think about. Besides, she made a promise to Cyborg the night before, and she wasn't going to break it by running home like a coward.

Her mind suddenly switched tracks to Cyborg at the mere thought of his name. Did she really blush when he hugged her back? Surely there was nothing more behind the hug then friendliness. Then why did she still find herself still growing warm at the thought of it? She hugged him because she was grateful, yes. But when he in turn held her close, she was struck with the oddest thought of how their bodies seemed to fit eachothers, and how good it felt to be held by him. She shook herself firmly. _No, stop it. You're a fool and you're looking far too into things. Cyborg is the best friend you have here, and you're ruining it._ She took another deep breath, pushing her thoughts away. Instead of reflecting back, she focused on the world around her. _Become in tune with the elements, and become in tune with yourself._

The already windy day was getting windier. It whipped through her hair and brought with it the scent of a coming rain. A storm was approaching, and it was going to be big. She could tell by the thick clouds gathering overhead that it would be soon, maybe an hour, maybe three. The earth was humming with anticipation for the rain. The waves were choppy, licking at the shore and almost wetting her feet. In listening to nature, she found an inner peace. Her soul resided in itself, allowing her to explore the emotions within.

Ravens doubts about her angered her.

Missing her family made her sad.

She hated her failure.

She loved escaping from home.

Being with her new friends made her happy.

She feared the unknown.

_Fear_. That was what she needed. Shane focused on the sole emotion and tried to bring it to the surface. She pictured dark tendrils rising up from her mind and wrapping themselves around her limbs. She fought against them as they dragged her down, farther and farther to the unknown darkness beyond. From the darkness crawled the boy, looking as mutilated as he did in her dreams. Fear blossomed in the pit of her stomach, welling up slowly. The boy reached for her with a rotting hand. She drew back, repulsed by the decomposing flesh. The tendrils continued to drag her down, down into the dark, down to the boy. They began to wrap themselves around her entire body, trapping her.

Shane went numb with fear, her throat tightening so that it was hard to breath. She grew weaker and weaker in her struggle until she could no longer fight. The boy rose at her side and gazed down at her with eyeless sockets. He opened his mouth and, with something that sounded akin to kindness, said, "**_Go somewhere safe. Go, and I will be watching._**" She stared incrediously at him, her fear soothed by the soft voice. As he spoke, Shane thought she could catch a glimpse of the boys former, unmutilated face before it returned to its monstrous state. "**_Go!_**" Prompted by his sudden urgency, she turned her mind to the first safe place she could think of; the tower. Concentrating as hard as she could, she willed herself to go to that place. With a deafening crack and a flash, everything disappeared.

--------

Once she came back to the surface, her eyes shot open and she filled her desperate lungs with much needed air. Her head buzzed with a dull pain, the world was spinning, and she felt like being sick on the floor. Despite that, she stood up and steadied herself. Still panting, she looked around and realized she no idea where she was. Everything was dark, save for a faint glow from a dim lamp on a desk in the far right corner. Shane headed towards the lamp, hitting several cardboard boxes strewn across the floor on her way. When she reached the light, she fumbled for the dimmer and flicked the light up to as bright as it would go. Stepping back, she cast a glance around the room. Several pieces of complex machinery were built into the front wall. Some had blinking lights and whirring parts, others displayed constant streams of information and digits on small screens.

On the other side of the room, across from the machines, was the door, built in shelves on either side holding thick volumes of books about mechanics, programming and technology. To the left side of the room was a long table that didn't look like any table she had seen before. It was tilted to one side, and had a board that jutted up on one end, perhaps to keep what ever belonged on the table from sliding off. Several tubes and wires ran from the wall nearest it and came to a stop just underneath the table. They looked as if they were supposed to be connected to something, but that something was gone. To the right of the room was the desk she stood by and a large closet, holding various electronic equipment that she doubted she could ever operate, much less hold without breaking.

She looked down at the desk. It was strewn with papers and files, some threatening to fall on the floor. _Who ever owns this room must be either very disorganized or too busy to even care...or both._ She looked at a few of the papers on the very top of the pile. Handwritten in small print were equations so complex she could not follow them. Other pages seemed to be blueprints of some sort. Finding no interest in these, she spread the papers out and caught a glimpse of something. Three photographs were buried under the mass of mathematics and science. Shane picked them up and looked at them. One was a picture of a beautiful, smiling black woman who looked to be middle aged, holding a clipboard and waving to the camera. She wore a white lab coat and reminded Shane of a scientist.

The next picture was a black boy, late in his teens, wearing a red and white football uniform and holding up a football. A large trophy rested on the ground at his feet. He had a giant smile across his face. Other football players were crowded behind him, slapping him on the back or throwing their fists up in the air in celebration.

The next picture was a solemn looking man wearing glasses, concentrating on a stack of papers in his hands. He payed no mind to the camera- either that or he had not noticed it. He, too, was wearing a lab coat, like the woman was.

The last one was a candid moment of the boy hugging the woman. They looked like they were laughing together. A loving smile was playing on the womans lips. _She looks like she could be this boys mother._ The boy greatly resembled her; he had her eyes and smile. He had hints of the man in him as well; his strong jaw line, his serious face. Setting them down, she continued to wander around the room.

On her way to examine the books on the shelves, her foot hit one of the boxes and she nearly tripped. Steadying herself, she realized she had upset the box and spilled it's contents; trophies and plaques scattered the floor. Sighing, she kneeled and picked one up. A tiny figurine man posed to throw a football on the top of the small trophy. The engraving on the base read 'Little League Football Champion'. Smiling, she set it in the box and reached for the next one. This one was sizeably larger, and did not have a little man on the top. This engraving read 'State Football Championship'. The next plaque she read interested her. Set in black stone were the words 'State Science Fair Winner- Victor Stone'.

"Victor Stone?" she said aloud. "Who is Victor Stone?" The rest of the awards she put away were either football trophies or academic recognitions. Finished with her work, she pushed the box aside and stood up. In doing so, she stepped on a remote thrown carelessly on the floor. She kicked it aside, sighing at her own clumsiness. Setting back to her exploration of the room, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. A screen had sprung to life on the wall of machines and was beginning to play a video. She wandered over to it as the video smoothed out the static and the audio kicked in. The same serious looking doctor from the photo was looking at the camera, speaking to it.

--------

"Dr.Silas Stone, August 26 of 2002. STAR Laboratories. After the lab accident three months ago, my son is finding it very hard to cope mentally and physically due to his loss of limbs and of family," His voice hitched as he looked away from the camera. Calming himself, he looked back. "but he is adapting to his prothestics very well. We hope to have him fully functioning to the best of his abilities by the end of his rehabilitation. This is not a fast process. It will take time. Months, maybe a year. He has been going through some psychological difficulties with the loss of his- his mother, Dr. Elaine S-Stone." A sob escaped his lips and he had to stop again, this time taking longer to compose himself.

"No other problems are detected so far, but we will keep monitoring his progress for now, just in case something arises. Next entry will be made in two weeks." The screen went to static as Dr.Stone turned off the camera. His son was the one who had won all the awards in the box, the same boy in the picture! And the woman really_ was_ Victors mother, and this man his father. _To think he lost his limbs? How did that happen? How did his mother die? What a horrible thing to have happen to a person._

Another video feed started seconds after the last one ended. It showed a stark, white room with nothing in it but a treadmill. A faint voice could be heard from outside the room saying, "Okay ,Victor. Go in and start your rehabilitation exercises. I will watch from the other room and track your vitals." A door somewhere out of the shot opened and closed. What happened next nearly had Shane floored. Cyborg, the Cyborg she knew and cared for, walked slowly, almost robotically, to the treadmill and stepped on it. He signaled to the person outside the room and the treadmill started. It began at a slow speed, one that he managed to keep up with pretty well. Gradually, it got faster and faster, and Cyborg started breathing harder and moving faster to keep up. Pain started to cross his face. He wanted to go faster, but his limbs wouldn't work with him. He groaned, clenching his fists and shutting his eyes tightly. The speed increased. He gave a small cry that became a shout that became a horrible scream of pain that Shane couldn't bear to hear. She put her hands over her ears and turned from the screen, tears rolling down her face.

This was what Cyborg meant. This was what he went through. He lost his football career, he lost his mother, he lost his body. She felt guilty, as if she shouldn't even know any of this. She felt like she was going behind his back. She felt untrustable. She picked up the remote and faced the screen. He was still screaming, still running despite the pain. Feeling sick, she turned it off and threw it down. She ran to the door, wanting nothing more then to leave. As she reached it, it slid open. She collided with another body and was sent flying back. Landing ungracefully on her back, she looked up and saw Cyborg gazing down at her questioningly

"Shane? Are you okay?" Nodding numbly, she took his outstretched hand and he pulled her up. "What are you doing in my room?" Her mouth opened, but nothing came out. As she gaped at him, she was struck with the image of the boy in the picture. Tears sprang to her eyes. Confused, he did a quick scan of the room. Shane could only watch helplessly as his eyes landed on the pictures she had left on top of his desk. His eyes narrowed, and he looked back at her. They were filled with hurt and accusation. In a voice that terrified her and filled her with guilt, he asked her again, "What are you doing in my room?"

"Cyborg, I- I'm sorry, I-" she stumbled with her words, trying to explain but knowing there was no way she could justify it, even if it was by accident. She could taste the sense of betrayal he felt. "I didn't mean to..." Her voice trailed off and fresh tears ran down her cheeks and dripped off her chin. Hanging her head, she wished nothing but escape from her guilt. **_I will help you. Find somewhere to run to._** Hearing the boys voice in her head was nothing short of terrifying, but she listened to him. He promised help, and she would accept it. What else could she do? Anything was better then standing there and loosing the person she cared about. She turned her back to Cyborg and closed her eyes, picturing the choppy waves of the ocean washing up on the shore and concentrating. In her mind, she held out her hand and the boy took it, leading her into the darkness.

------

Spluttering and coughing, she broke through the water and gasped for air. She had enough time to look around and see that she was in the bay, a few dozen yard off the city shore, before being pushed underwater by a wave. She struck out towards the shore, fighting against the strong push and pull of the water until she finally made it. Soaking, exhausted, and hurt, she pulled herself up the sandy beach and collapsed on her back, staring up at the sky. The heavens seemed to cry with her; fat droplets pelted her, mixing with her tears and rolling down the side of her face. Her stitched wound pulsed with agony; the salty water of the ocean ran into her cut and burned the open flesh. She didn't know for how long she layed there, but once her sobs ceased she knew she had to get out of the rain. Gathering herself together, she managed to stand up and drag herself off of the beach and under the shelter of a few trees, where she dropped into a fitful sleep.


	9. Outside

** I'm thinking that after this, there will be one more chapter and a prologue, and after that it will be done! Any suggestions for a new fic would be great. Thank you for reviewing. It means alot to me to know what others think. I know this chapter is strange, but just bear with it, okay? Not one of my best -I find myself thinking that more and more about my work now!- but oh well. I'll try and pull the last two off better then I did this one. Read and please review!**

Cars honked, people shouted, construction sites crashed and banged, children laughed; such was the noise of that day. The streets were packed with cars, and the sidewalks were no different. It seemed everyone had somewhere to go or someone to see- except for one person.

Shane stopped in the middle of the walkway, disrupting the steady traffic flow of people, suddenly realizing something. _I can't believe I left it! Oh my god, I'm so stupid!_ Groaning, she mentally kicked herself. Yes, she left the tower, but that wasn't the problem. The problem was that she left the tower _without her wallet_. So now she was wandering around Jump City, avoiding the Teen Titans, with no money and an empty stomach. She cursed herself for being so stupid. But seeing as she didn't have much choice between going back to get it and staying in the city, she continued walking down the side of Maine, eyeing all the restaurants and coffee shops she knew she couldn't indulge in.

By the time it stopped raining yesterday, the night had passed. She decided that instead of staying under the trees, seeking alternative shelter would be smarter. She resolved to sleep in the side alley of a convenience store just a few blocks within the city. Shane was able to get a few decent hours of sleep and woke up feeling only slightly less terrible. And now, a few hours later, Shane was wandering the city wondering what the hell she was going to do. _It's not like I can go back and just say, "Oh, hi Cyborg! I invaded your privacy and delved into the painful memories of your past without your permission! But don't worry, it was just an accident." Wonder how well that would turn out._ She laughed bitterly to herself. After what she had done, she doubted if he would even speak to her. The hurt and betrayal that were in his eyes spoke volumes. She was far from being taken back.

Scuffing the ground with her foot in disdain, she sighed and walked over to a storefront. She gazed at her reflection in the display window. Her hair was messy and slightly tangled. Faint circles were underneath her eyes, and she looked incredibly plain now that the rain last night had washed away her makeup. She combed a hand through her hair and tried to make herself look more presentable. Satisfied enough, she turned to keep walking, but a gleam caught her eye. She paused and looked through the window. On a small display table was a set of ten hunting knifes, ranging from blades four inches to ten inches long. The blades were made of a tough, shining metal. Each of their handles was a nice, sleek looking black plastic with grips running down the side. She gazed at the sixth blade longingly. It was perfect. Seven and a half inches of gleaming steel, filed to be razor sharp. Oh, how she wished she had the money to buy that knife.

---------

Her obsession with knifes was partly to blame on her ex boyfriend. Before he left her, he had introduced her to the wonders and excitement of these weapons. The first time she had shown interest in knifes was three months into the relationship. The two of them had driven down to a strip of woods at the edge of Kane City. They were relaxing in the bed of his truck under the shade of the trees when he pulled a dagger from his pocket and began to toss it up in the air, catching it by the handle. Concerned, she asked him what he was doing. "Just watch this." he told her. He held the blades handle lightly in the tips of his fingers and aimed for a spot on a tree fifty feet away. With a flick of his wrist and the extension of his arm, the blade whistled through the air and cut cleanly into the tree, exactly where he had aimed for. Her mouth hung slightly agape in amazement. He sat back and grinned at her lazily, enjoying her awe.

"That's so cool!" she cried. "You have to teach me!"

"Alright then." Every week from there on, he drove her down to the woods and taught her everything he knew about throwing knifes. When he wasn't teaching her, she was practicing. Even after he left her she never stopped. From there her interest grew into a passion. She loved the power and thrill she felt whenever she hit her target. In a matter of months her accuracy rivaled her ex boyfriends, as well as the speed in which she threw. For years she wanted to buy her own knifes. And now she was so close to having one...

--------

"Can I help ya' with somethin' missy?" She turned, startled from her memories. A man with a handlebar moustache and a beard stood beside her, arms crossed and resting on his slight beer belly. His bushy eyebrows were raised as he looked down at her with blue eyes. He sort of looked like one of those generic motorcyclists. 

"No, I'm just admiring these knifes." she replied. "They're beautiful."

"What would a lit'le lady like yourself know about these?" She grinned.

"Plenty, trust me." The corners of his moustache twitched as he smiled in return.

"Are ya' lookin' to buy some?"

"Oh, no, I don't have any money." After he gave her a strange look, she added, "I mean, I don't have any money on me." She turned to appreciate the knifes once more. "It's a pity though. I would die to own a set like this." He studied her for a while before sighing.

"Well...how 'bout this? I'll let ya try them out if you like, as long as ya don't hurt yourself." Her face brightened.

"I would love to see them!" Shane cried.

"Come on then." She followed him inside the store, gazing around in wonder. Guns racks lined two walls, holding shotguns, rifles and snipers of every type. Another wall carried five shelves of ammunition and a few bullet proof vests hanging from a clothes rack. The other wall was the register counter, where the shopkeeper was standing. He rifled through a few boxes behind the counter before coming up with a plastic briefcase with a handle and two clasps at the top holding it closed. He set the case on the counter and flipped the clasps, opening the lid. Inside it, a set of blades was nestled on top of a protective padding, each knife laying in its own little niche. Shane carefully removed the blade she had admired most and studied it, testing its weight in her hand. It was suprisingly light for such a sturdy looking weapon.

"If you like it, we have a whole case of different brands in the back-" He trailed off mid sentence. Shane looked up. It looked like he had heard something. "Do you hear that?" he asked, glancing at her. They both were silent. Shane strained her ears to find the noise he claimed to hear. Finally she heard it. It was faint at first, but the wailing siren steadily grew louder and louder as it approached. It sounded so familiar. The sound reached its peak when a police car pulled up outside of the shop, flashing red and blue lights shining through the window. Shane stiffened. _The police? What the hell is going on? Please don't tell me the Titans sent them after me._ She waited, expecting any second for police or FBI to run into the store waving guns in her face and telling her to come with them. But nothing happened. Confused, she walked over to the window and looked outside.

"Oh my god..."

--------

A man dressed in all black with a ski mask over his head was standing in the middle of the road, pointing a pistol at a womans head. He had a burlap bag filled with something clutched in his left hand and the same arm was wrapped around her shoulders, keeping her pinned against him. The woman looked to be fifty years old. She trembled, screaming for help. Cops were pointing their guns at the man, each taking cover behind something. The police had barracaded both ends of the road so no one could come in or leave, but other then that, they had yet to act.

"I swear to god, if any of you so much as MOVES, I will shoot this woman!" he screamed, pressing the barrel of the gun to her temple to emphasize his point. She screamed again, crying hysterically. "Drop your guns! DROP THEM!" His eyes were dark, cold, soulless. Deep inside her, Shane felt a chill. He would kill that woman if he wanted to, she could tell. Apparently, so could the officers. One by one, the police slowly put their guns on the ground and showed him their empty hands.

"Okay, you have the money," one of the officers said. "and we've dropped our guns. Now just let the woman go." The man didn't waver. One of the police stood up from his cover behind a car to negotiate with him.

"Look, we just want-"

With a crazed yell, the man whipped the gun from the womans head, fired a shot at the officer, and brought it back to her temple. The bullet bounced off the car door and shattered one of the windows. The policeman ducked, narrowly avoiding the bullet.

"Don't move!" _Someone has to do something! ...Oh gods, I hope I don't regret this..._

She closed her eyes and called back her fear. It rushed back a little too quickly for her liking and it left her breathless, but she didn't have time to worry. Darkness swallowed her and she had only one thought in her mind- stop who ever this man is.

-------

She came through the shadows, lungs burning and head aching. Her vision blurred for a moment and she nearly fell. Steadying herself, she took a deep breath and shook her vision clear. Her transportation had taken her directly behind the man; she stood but inches from him. Deciding to take full advantage of the element of suprise, she leaned forward and whispered in his ear. 

"Boo."

"What the-?!" He spun around, dragging the woman along roughly. His eyes narrowed and his grip on the gun tightened. "Who the fuck are you?!"

"Is that important?" she said, fingering the knife concealed in her pocket.The hostaged woman gazed up at her desperately, pleading with Shane to save her. "I'm only going to ask once. Let the woman go. Now." He laughed cruelly.

"I don't know how you got here, but her blood is on your hands now!" He moved to pull the trigger. Shane took notice of this and pulled out he knife, slashing it quickly to the side. He cried out, dropping the bag of money and releasing the woman, who crawled away to safety. His sleeve was ripped, exposing a long gash running down his left forearm, dripping blood. He cursed and swung his gun at her, hitting her in the chest with the butt. She gasped in pain, but immediately countered with a sweeping slash at his leg. He stepped back, barely avoiding the blade.

"No ones blood will be shed here but yours!" she shouted. He lunged at her, tackling her to the ground hard. She struggled underneath him, her arms pinned to her side. He smiled and tucked his gun in his belt before drawing back his fist and punching her across the face. The strike drew a cry from her.

"Is that right?" he asked, digging his fingers into her side. She yelled again, clenching her eyes shut. His eyes widened in a sick joy. "What's this?" He dug his fingers deeper, pressing against her wound.

"Stop!" she shouted, tears forming in her eyes.

"Oh, a weak spot, have we?" Stars danced in front of her eyes as he continued to exploit her wound, bringing agonizing pain crashing down on her again and again. With a grunt, she managed to shift her weight enough to push him over and take the dominant position in the struggle. She struck his nose with the heel of her palm, breaking it. His head hit the pavement from the force of the hit. Slightly dazed, he drew back a leg and kicked her off of him. She landed a few feet away. The impact knocked the breath out of her. He stood up and stalked towards her. Panicking, she looked around for anything she could use to protect herself. Her knife lay a few feet from her grasp. She took hold of the hilt, aimed carefully for her target, and threw it. With a crunch, it penetrated his left hand and came out the other side, rendering his entire arm useless.

He screamed, doubling over and cradling his wounded appendage. Blood ran in tiny rivers down his fingers and dropped in small puddles on the ground. With a shout of rage and pain, he used his good hand to pull the gun from his belt and aim it at her head. She tried to run away. But it was too late. Shane closed her eyes and screamed as the gunshot rang through the air, loud and crisp. Seconds passed, and she slowly opened her eyes. She felt no pain, she wasn't bleeding, and she was sure this wasn't heaven. Glancing around, she realized she was surrounded in a cocoon of black tinted energy. The bullet lay crushed a few inches from the shield. But who...?

"Glad to see you're still alive." She spun around, recognizing the deadpan voice as belonging to the dark empath. Sure enough, she was floating just outside the protective barrier, an arm raised to keep it erected.

"Raven? You- You saved me?"

"I couldn't let you die. Cyborg would throw a fit." Shane couldn't help but smile a bit.

"Wait, where is everyone else?" Raven pointed a slender hand and Shane turned around. Robin had the mans gun and was handing it to the police. Cyborg and Starfire kept him in his spot, cannon and starbolts trained on him should he try to escape whilst a police officer was putting him in handcuffs. Beastboy was busy directing the ambulance to the crime scene.

"We thought you might have needed help."

-------

Shane walked through the crime scene, watching with an amused smile as the ambulance workers gaped at the knife still lodged in the mans hand. He was shouting at a terrified intern to take it out. The shopkeeper was standing nearby, waiting patiently to have his knife returned to him. Not too far away, the woman Shane recognized to be the hostage was talking to an officer. Other then a small cut above her eye, she seemed to be unharmed. Shane couldn't help but still be concerned for the old lady though, so she picked her way through the crowds of reporters, cops, and other various people to talk to her. As she approached her, the officer shook the womans hand and left. As he was leaving, Shane passed him. He stopped, calling out to her.

"Hey, are you that kid?" Shane turned and nodded. He shook his head, smiling. "You have to be crazy to do what you did. But hell, you sure did it." He chuckled and continued on his way. She watched his retreating form disappear among the crowds before stepping towards the woman.

"Um, hello..." Her eyes lit up as she recognized Shane.

"You're the one who saved me! Bless you! Bless you child!" She pulled Shane into a warm embrace, crying her thanks over and over.

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay." She released her and smiled.

"Yes, I'm fine. I'm just grateful I'm not dead!"

"Good. I'm glad."

"Be sure to get yourself checked out by the ambulance. Who knows how that horrible man hurt you!" she said, a maternal tone in her voice.

"I will." She turned to leave, but the woman put a hand on her shoulder.

"And Shane?" Shane turned, wondering how the woman knew her name. "I and my family thank you. You're truely a hero."


	10. Confrontation

* * *

** Sorry this one has taken so long to post! My computer was in the shop, and then I couldn't figure out how to end this. I know there's alot of dialogue, but I think it was necessary. One more left- the epilogue! The last time I posted, I didn't get any reviews. The only way I get better is if I get feedback! So read and please review!  
**

The cool glass felt soothing on her too warm cheek, calming her and providing relief from everything if only for a blessed moment. The faint light that managed to filter though the evenings overcast sky shone through the window and tinted her face a sad shade of murky blue. The clouds broke off to reveal a strip of sky just above the horizon, where the sun was setting. She had been sitting there for a while, just staring out the window and watching the waters of the ocean reflect the dreary sunset. Silent minutes ticked past, and the sun slowly dipped behind the horizon. She sighed, her breath fogging up the glass.

The day had been less then cheery. On the drive home from the crime scene in the T Car, Beastboy told her what he thought to be an enthralling story of how the Titans had seen her on the news and decided to come save and her from the 'evil clutches of the horrible man', as Starfire had put it. Everyone made their contribution to the story, even Raven. When he was prompted to speak, Cyborg barely said anything at all. He avoided looking at her the entire ride. She felt horribly guilty after that. When they got home, Cyborg fixed himself some food, and giving nothing more then the excuse, "Got to work on a project...", he shut himself up in his room. After a few hours of milling around, the rest of the team left the main room to do something and left Shane to her own devices. She took a spot by the window and sat there for hours. No one had come back yet, and Shane hadn't moved.

A fine mist covered the window and the wind picked up a bit. _Just the weather to fit my mood._ She glared bitterly at her reflection, despising the girl who stared back. She was weak. She was weak and she hated it. Now that she didn't have Cyborgs favor, she felt like she didn't belong again. Shane felt cold and distant. She felt like running from here because she had no friends left. How could one mans feelings towards her effect her so much?

**_Because what he thinks matters to you more then you even realize_**, a part of her mind told her.

"Shut up." she muttered.

**_It's his acceptance you strive for, his approval, his praise. You want him to think wonderful things about you because you think wonderful things about him._**

"I said shut up!"**_  
_**

**_And if he does think of you as worth more, you would know you're important to him, and that's all you want. You want to be important. You want to mean something._**

Sobbing in anger, she slammed a fist against the window. It rattled violently in its frame. With the heel of her hand, she wiped away a few stray tears. **_You know, you're only angry because it's true, _**The voice in her mind said.

"...I know..." Shane whispered softly.

-------

This was were he could find peace. Not locked up in his room where he was surrounded by machinery, the very thing that kept him alive. Not training with Robin, where he was reminded of the limits his body had. Not watching football on tv, the sport he would win a scholarship to any university with if his life hadn't careened out of control.

No, it was better outside, away from it all. Drops of rain gathered on the metal of his body and on the little organic skin he had left, chilling him. He was miserably wet, sitting on a slick rock ledge that jutted out over the ocean. He tended to sit here whenever he needed to think. It was pretty secluded; no one really thought to look for him there. The other Titans always thought whenever he was angry he would be inside working on his car or in his room. They didn't think to look for him anywhere else.

Part of Cyborg was grateful for this hiding spot that was all his own, but another part was bothered that they thought he was so one-dimensional. Then again, there were parts of him that Cyborg thought no one should know about. His past, his former self, was a very fragile topic. Memories haunted his dreams every night; he didn't want to drag them up into his conscious mind as well. But if everyone knew what happened... He could remember the look of pity on Robins face when he told him about the lab accident. He despised that look of pity. He didn't want pity. He didn't need it. He didn't want people to know. He just wanted to forget about it, even though he knew he never could.

----------

The last sliver of sun disappeared behind the horizon and darkness overtook the land. Cyborg shivered. His core temperature regulator told him that now that the sun had set, the outside temperature was dropping a few degrees. _Can't my body let me feel human for just one second without all these damn readouts popping up?!_ Another signal went up. This time it was the sonic amplifier in his arm, picking up the sound of soft footsteps. He tapped into the amplifier and listened carefully. It wasn't Robin. The metal in the toes of his boots clanked whenever he walked. This person seemed to be approaching quietly, stealthily, as to not alert him to their presence, so it couldn't be Beastboy. He would just jump out and be annoying, completely ruining any chance of peace or quiet Cyborg had. Starfire wouldn't bother climbing over the wet rocks, she would just fly. So would Raven. So that just left...

"I can hear you, you know." Cyborg said flatly. Shane stepped out from behind a rock, rubbing the back of her neck.

"How did you know?"

"Sonic amplifier. Now could you go away?" he asked curtly. "I want to be alone." Shane took a step back, hurt. _No, I said I would do this..._ Biting her lip, she walked towards a boulder to the right of him and sat on it, dangling her legs over the edge and leaning forward on her arms.

"No. I have to talk to you." He looked at her, irritated.

"I came here to think, not talk."

"I can wait until you're done." she replied. Cyborg sighed.

"Damn, you're stubborn..." he muttered. Then, louder, he said, "Okay, fine. Say what you need to." She turned to face him and fixed him with a gaze so intense that it made his inner core regulator feel like it was going to implode.

"It's about earlier." A pang of hurt rode up as he remembered finding her in his room, looking through his past...

"Don't want to talk about it." Cyborg refused.

"You don't have to say a thing." she said gently. "Cyborg, please let me say this..." He was silent, which she took as a yes. "What I did... I won't blame you if you hate me. I knew those things were private. I knew they must have been painful memories, but I couldn't help it. It was a horrible thing to do, and for that I am sorry." He didn't look at her. He didn't move, or react to what she said. Terrified, she continued. "I can't tell you I'll forget what I saw. I won't. But that doesn't mean it changes anything. I still think of you as the Cyborg I've gotten to know. I still think you're the best friend I have here. But things between us have changed. I no longer have your trust. I want to try and earn it back though Cyborg, I really do. So, because I know some of your past, I'm going to tell you about mine."

----------

"My name is Shane Lynn Parker. I'm seventeen, but I wish I could be a kid again because they're so innocent. I live in Kane City with my best friend Lea. We aren't doing so well. Last time I saw her we got into a huge argument and I stormed out. I'm an emancipated minor living on the wage I make from my job at Paco's Tex Mex and Leas wage from Olive Garden. I have a mom and a dad, Gina and Frank Parker, and a little sister. She's the world to me. I call her Boo, because I swear she looks just like that kid from Monsters Inc. My favorite color is red. My favorite number is six. My favorite food spaghetti and meatballs. I love the smell of freshly baked cookies. My ex boyfriend taught me how to use knives. I'm obsessed with them. One moment I can be a hopeless romantic, then the other I think love is overrated. I can be a bit of a hypocrite. I think too much. I tend to over analyze some things. I can hold grudges for quite a while. I hate being alone. I hate not knowing things. And I hate feeling out of place, unwanted, or unsure."

"...Your name is Shane Parker?" She smiled. His interest was peaked, and he was talking to her. Two very good things.

"Yes."

"...It's nice..."

"Thank you." He looked down, hands clasped firmly together. He didn't forgive her yet. But that was okay. She'd expected it. "But, Cyborg- I still have something I feel I have to tell you, something you deserve to know." He didn't raise his head, but his eyes shifted to her. "Something I've been lying to everyone about." She paused, her heart pounding so hard she thought Cyborg could hear it. "I want to tell you how I got the wound on my side."

Her decision to tell him this was not easy. She always feared telling them about what happened. They might not understand and think she was a criminal, part of the gangs. Or maybe they wouldn't even care she was innocent. They might turn her in for even participating in a gang fight. After all her doubts of acceptance at the tower she was going to tell him the one thing that might get her abandoned for ever. Truthfully, she thought it might be easier to tell Robin or one of the others first. Their rejection wouldn't hurt as much as Cyborgs. But she knew that she would tell him anything to get his forgiveness and earn his trust back. Even if it meant unearthing the very thing she had tried to hide from them.

She tried to calm her screaming nerves as she began talking. Her voice came out somewhat shaky. She inwardly cursed herself for being a coward. "I was taking a walk to cool down from the fight Lea and I had when I heard a scream. I had no idea where it came from, so I tried to find it. There was this old abandoned building, so I figured that's where it might have come from. I was looking through the window when someone shot at me. I freaked and ran into the alley next to it when I found the person I was looking for. Except they weren't okay. They were- they were d-dead..." She paused, blinking back her tears.

"Shane, wait-" Cyborg interrupted. "you don't... you don't have to do this."

"Yes, I do. I owe it to you."

"He was stabbed. Blood was everywhere. ...God, he was just a kid! He had the most beautiful eyes I'd ever seen... Turns out his killer was just around the corner, with a knife and a gun. He said I was "another one of them." I didn't know what to do, so I ran. Some others came, I think they were friends of the dead boy, and killed the guy after me for revenge."

Memories of the gunshots echoed in her mind. She shivered. "I found out that I was in the middle of a gang fight, and I wasn't on either side, so everyone wanted me dead. Eventually I ended up having to fight back. I forget how many people I had to hurt...but it was too many. Next thing I knew I felt a gun pressed to the back of my head. I tried to fight back, but they took my knife and stabbed me before shooting me in the head. Next thing I remember was waking up and seeing you and Robin."

"Shane...Shane, why didn't you tell us?"

"I was scared to Cyborg."

"Scared?" he shouted. "We could have put those guys in jail! God, you were in a gang fight Shane!"

"Don't you think I know that?" she exclaimed, standing up. "I know what happened! I know the reprecussions! But I could not tell you! I couldn't bring myself to say it!"

"Why? Don't you trust us?"

"You're kidding right? Honestly?!" She threw up her hands with a groan and turned away from him, looking out at the violent sea. Rubbing the bridge of her nose, she said in a calm voice, "Yes, Cyborg, I trust you. That's why I told you this. Because I trust you. And because I know if I didn't tell you, I would lose you." She felt a warm hand on her shoulder.

"When I found you, I was mad. I was furious. I admit that at that moment the last thing I wanted to do was to trust you. But Shane," He pushed her arm softly, turning her around. When she looked up at him she recognized, with a faint glimmer of hope, a familiar look of kindness on his face. "you could never lose me. I'm not going anywhere."

"You're sure you want to forgive me so easily Cyborg?"

"Only if you'll let me." The next thing she knew, she was pulled into a warm embrace -or was it her that had hugged him? She couldn't tell. All she knew was the shelter of his arms and the warmth that was radiating off of him. A blush spread across her cheeks and she looked up at him.

"So I'm guessing you've forgiven me then?" Cyborg captured her lips in a soft kiss, taking her by suprise and cutting of any chance of her saying anything else. But that was okay. She doubted she could even form a coherent sentence at that point. Oh, but how blissful that moment was.

**_I told you so, _**a small voice chimed in. She took that small voice and mentally dropckicked it to the back of her mind. There wasn't any way a damned voice was going to ruin this.


	11. The End

**Sorry for the wait guys. It's been a while! I just couldn't find the right way to end this! But I hope this is good enough.Tell me what you thought of this story as a whole in a review! I'd like to know if you enjoyed it or if you think I still need work. So, read and please review!**

* * *

With a thud, Shane hit the ground and rolled several times before coming to a stop. She clenched her eyes shut, a hand gripping her side, where a rib twinged in pain. A snort of laughter issued from the attackers lips as they approached her.

"This is the new one they so proudly introduced?" they spat. "_Pathetic_." They drew closer, a hand held out. A glowing red energy began to manifest on their palm. Shane tried to drag herself out of aim, but it was useless. "Goodbye, child." They fired the blast, aimed at her temple, and with a sickening crunch, it hit its target.

With a manic grin, the villain turned to walk away. But his ego would not allow him to leave until his saw his prey sprawled dead on the floor. He needed that sick satisfaction of a job well done. So, he paused and peered through the clearing smoke to find his victim. Yet, instead of the bleeding mass he expected to find, he found nothing but an blackened crater in the pavement.

"_What?!"_The victorious smile on his lips fell in disbelief. He rushed forward and crouched down at the spot of impact, casting his eyes this way and that to find where she might have disappeared to. He found nothing but swirling smoke and rubble. "Where-?"

"Looking for me?" a voice whispered in his ear. He spun around and staggered back, eyes wide.

"How in the hell-?!" His cry was cut short as a gleaming flash of metal whistled through the air. A gurgle came from his throat and he looked down slowly. The villains hand came up to grip the handle of the dagger lodged deeply in his chest. His face froze into a mask of shock as he stumbled forward and fell, blood pouring from the wound. Shane clutched her ribs and looked down at the fallen man, panting.

"Pathetic, huh?"

Slowly, he, along with the street that served as their battleground, began to fizzle out like static. It became nothing more then a large, empty, white room with blue circuitry undertones. The only thing in the room besides the blank expanses of wall was a single door.

"**Simulation Ended**." a droid like voice informed her. Shane exhaled slowly, grabbing her knife from the floor and sliding it back into one of the many sheaths on her belt, along with all the other knifes she possessed. She headed across the room and out the door, mentally cursing herself for her poor performance. Outside waiting were the five Titans, standing beside a one way mirror that looked into the room. A cheer arose as she emerged. She met the call with a small smile.

"Not bad, not bad!" Beastboy exclaimed, slapping her on the back.

"Most...impressive." Starfire said with a faltering smile. Her face was a bit pale as she spoke. "But, might I inquire as to why it was necessary to make him bleed so much?" Shane laughed and shook her head.

"No, I suppose it wasn't."

"You do realize that we can't kill people once we're really out there, don't you?" Robin asked, stepping forward with the air of command. Shane nodded.

"Yeah, I know. I figured since he was a hologram, why hold back, you know?"

"Well, don't make a habit out of it."

"I won't."

"Other then that, you did pretty well." Robin admitted.

She glanced through the window into the empty room and sighed. "Yeah, but...I can't believe I let him catch me off guard like that."

"Don't worry about it. You did fine, Shane." Cyborg said. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders in a comforting squeeze. She grinned, her disappointment in herself forgotten for the moment.

"Dude, ew." Raven cracked Beastboy in the back of the head.

"Shut up." Raven murmured.

---------

She peeled off her dampened uniform and threw it in the corner of her room, making sure to remove the yellow communicator from her pocket and place it on her bed in case anything arose. She transported herself into the bathroom and turned on the shower, watching as the room slowly filled with steam.

Satisfied, she stepped in. As she slowly unwound underneath the steady beat of hot water, her mind drifted back to when she first became a Titan.

_"I'm a Titan?!" Shane asked, gazing uncertainly at the Titan symbol emblazoned on the front of the small device that she held in her palm._

_"If you accept our offer, friend." Starfire said. Shane tore her eyes from the communicator and looked at Cyborg, who stood beside her, smiling. Only a few minutes ago she had been flipping through an old photo album with Cyborg in his room, looking at photos of the Titans in their teams earliest years, and now she was being asked to be part of that team. She would've laughed and called that ironic if she hadn't been so shocked._

_"We've seen what you can do, and we know you'll be a great addition to the team." Robin said, placing a hand on her shoulder and smiling. All it took was a reassuring nod from Cyborg to make up her mind. She closed her fingers around the communicator and looked up at them, a bold smile on her face._

_"So, which room is mine?"_

--------

Even though Shane was happy with her new life, something always remained in her heart. A fondness, a longing, a desire to see the home and family she once called her own. Some days she would just ignore it. Some days she would try and distract herself from it with having fun at the tower. But some days she couldn't. Some days the memories of what was and what will never be wouldn't leave, no matter how persistently she tried.

This was one of those days. Sighing, she swung her legs over the edge of the roof and leaned back on her arms, gazing out across the calm waters of the bay.

"I didn't know you came up here as well." Shane glanced over her shoulder. Raven, who was surprisingly uncloaked, was walking across the roof toward her.

"I don't." Shane said. "I know this is your place. I'll leave if you'd like-" Shane pushed herself up a bit.

"It's fine. I...I enjoy the occasional company," Raven admitted. "every once and a while." Shane nodded and sat back down. Raven sat a few feet away from her and stared out at the ocean with her. Out of the corner of her eye, Raven observed the girl. Subtle things, like a small sigh carried away in the wind, or the drawing of her knees up t her chest informed her of Shane's troubled mood. Frowning slightly, she turned her attention back to the water and said,

"It's not like me to ask, but... is something wrong?" The question caught Shane off guard. Like Raven said, it wasn't like her to intrude upon other peoples feelings or situations. The case was even more so when Raven was dealing with Shane.

"...Yes."

"Care to share it?"

"I don't know..."

"Look, I'm already putting myself out there more then normal." Raven cut in, with her standard glare. "Don't make it harder for me. Just come out with it." Shane chuckled.

"Alright." She sighed, propping an elbow on her knee and resting her head in her hand. "Do you ever feel like you want to go back? Like you want to go back and live the life you had before the Titans?" Raven continued to fix her with her mask of serious observation. "It's- It's not that I don't love being here, I do." Shane added quickly. "But, I miss my old life. I miss the simplicity of normality. I miss my family."

"We all do." Raven tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and looked away. "Of course, most of our families are dead, but that doesn't mean we don't want to go back to the way things used to be. All of us secretly feel this way. But we learn to deal with it. It's just another part of putting on the proverbial facade of masks and capes."

------

Silence was a rare but welcome thing in the tower. So rare was such an occurrence that it was nearly considered a blessing. And when such a blessing was bestowed on the main room, one would have top be insane not to take advantage of it and enjoy it for all that it was worth. Determined to not be considered mental ward worthy, Shane had curled up on the sofa with a blanket and a mug of coffee stolen from Cyborgs garage.

Not that he would've noticed. He was too busy working on his baby. As for the other Titans? Robin was reviewing a pile of records on some recently incarcerated convicts. Raven and Starfire were in Ravens room for the talk of girls, and Beastboy was off being Beastboy somewhere.

She sighed contently, eyes on the tv, which was playing a rerun of some cliche sitcom. Strangely enough, the audio for the show began to sound garbled and distorted, like someone was taking a tape recorder and speeding it up and slowing it down randomly. Eventually it went out all together.

_I'm going to have to have Cyborg take a look at that..._ Shane groaned as the video was peppered with static and began to warp just like the audio did. Soon, it went out as well. "Oh, come on!" she cried.

Sighing, Shane got to her feet and made her way to the screen to fiddle with the controls. Just as her fingertip grazed one of the many buttons on the control panel, the picture and sound came back. But is definitely wasn't what she was watching before. Instead, the screen was white. Blindingly white. She stepped back a bit, blinking. Slowly, the white faded to a dark, blood red, with black silhouettes of cogs and machinery in the background. A shadowed figure strolled, almost casually, into the field of view. When it tuned to face the camera, the dim light struck its face- an orange and black mask with a single cold, mocking eye.

**Slade.**

A strangled gasp caught in Shane's throat. She may have not had any experience with him, but she had seen enough police files, records, and pictures to loathe the man.

"Hello, Titans." A shiver ran down her spine, making her shudder. "It's been far too long." Her fear finally pushed through the lump in her throat and she managed to scream out,

"_Help!"_

"Out to ruin my fun, I see?" Slade cocked his head to the side and tutted. "So rude."

"Shane!" Cyborg cried, the first to reach the room. Robin came a second later, shouting,

"What is it? What's the trouble?" Shane turned shakily and whispered,

"_Slade."_

-------------

Robin gripped the edge of the control panel so tightly is almost broke.

"What do you want Slade?" he growled. "Why are you doing this?"

"Oh Robin, don't be so conceited." Slade clucked, his words dripping with a hidden evil. "I'm not here for you." He shook his head and laughed. "No, no, I'm here in honor of your latest addition." Shane's eyes widened. "I've heard of your heroics with the Titans, Shane. And I thought, now what kind of friend would I be if I didn't bring you a welcoming gift?"

"W-What did you do?" Shane felt herself trembling as she spoke.

"She's quite adorable, you know." Slade continued. "It's a shame, Titans, that you haven't met her. A delightful one, that girl is. Oh, and her voice is..." He paused, a sickeningly happy, twisted tone seeping into his words. "Well, why don't you see for yourself?"

The shot flitted from Slade to a large, harshly lit room. A single figure sat,alone, in the middle of the room in a chair. They were small, and gave the appearance of someone who was broken and scared. "Darling, why don't you smile for the camera?" The person became clearer as the camera drew closer.

A bit of blood and dirt was streaked across their face and hair, mixed with tears. Bruises adorned their shoulders and arms. One eye was blackened. "Go on. Don't you want to talk to your sister?" The girls head snapped up and her face came into view. Shane's heart skipped a beat and tears began rolling down her cheeks. Oh gods, no, please no!

"_HELP ME SHANE_!"

It was her sister.

It was Boo.

Slade had Boo.

"Slade, you _sick son of a bitch!" _Shane screamed through broken sobs. _"I'LL KILL YOU_!"

"I don't think you're in a position to threaten me. I'm the one with the bargaining chip." Slade replied.

"You keep your goddamned hands off of her!" He only laughed and said,

"Welcome to the Titans, Shane."

The transmission cut, and the screen went blank. Shane dropped to her knees, shaking with silent screams of rage and despair. The most evil, twisted, cynically cruel man the Titans had faced now had her sister. And she was nearly powerless to do anything about it.

"Shane, I promise-" Cyborg said, ensconcing her in a protective hug. "I promise- we'll get her back."

"I thought this was the beginning of a new life."she choked out. "But I was wrong. It's just the continuation of a nightmare."


End file.
